The invention concerns a method and a device for the reclaimation of atmospheric water.
As far as the relative humidity is concerned, contrary conditions exist, depending on seasons and regions, in Arabic, African, Asiatic and Southern European countries. During the day, there is in parts a very high and in parts a very low relative atmospheric humidity in the various countries.
In contrast, during the nighttime, in the interval between sundown and sunrise with falling temperatures (around the 32xc2x0 F. mark), the relative atmospheric humidity rises in almost all countries almost steadily up to 100%. That is why the inhabitants of these regions employ well tried but antiquated implements. In order to be able to meet at least the absolutely minimum demand in drinking water, they attach stones to trees and shrubs or walls, which are heated during the day by the sun and on which during the night the relative atmospheric humidity condenses. Likewise small amounts of water are retrieved from the atmosphere during the nighttime in plastic or aluminum foils and the like, which are stretched in a concave shape.
In the interim, machines/devices are known with which one extracts small amounts of water from the atmosphere according to the condensation principle. Methods with machines/devices with which one extracts large amounts of water from the atmosphere, with renewable energies, in a targeted way, efficiently, and calculable in advance, around the clock, in day- and nighttime operation with the use of cooling and heating registers, are not known. The descriptions refer mainly to functional technologies. Clear definitions, with which large amounts of water are extracted from the atmosphere, in daytime operation with cooling and in nighttime operation with heating, around the clock, in a targeted way, efficiently, and calculable in advance, cannot be learned from these descriptions.
The functions and technologies of these known machines are described in the below-mentioned specifications and patent applications as follows:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,552
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,516
3. Specification No. DD 285142 A 5/E 03 B 3/28
4. Disclosure document DT 25 35 668/F 25 J 3/00
5. Disclosure document DE 3208 964 A 1/E 03 B 3/28
6. Disclosure document DE 3311 711 A 1/E 03 B 3/283
7. Disclosure document EP 0597716 A 1/E 03 B 3/28
8. Disclosure document RU 20 00 393 C/E 03 B 3/28
9. Disclosure document RU 2004719 C 1/E 03 B 3/28
10. Disclosure document No. 80 26 660/24 96 080/E 03 B
11. Patent application No. 19737483.2-11
The underlying purpose of the invention is to develop a method and a device which by day and night utilizes the alternative energy sources that are available in dry regions for the reclamation for water; in particular, a machine/device for the reclamation of atmospheric water shall be created with which, using renewable energies, during the daytime with cooling systems and during the nighttime with heating systems the high relative atmospheric humidity is absorbed and in a targeted way, efficiently and calculable in advance, around the clock large amounts of water are extracted from the atmosphere, which serve for the population""s supply of drinking and service water as well as for irrigation.
Pursuant to the invented method, both cooling energy and heat energy are utilized for the reclamation of water from the atmosphere. Herein lies an advantage over known machines in particular through the use of heat energy, which in dry regions is generally abundant during the daytime. Thus, through the storage of heat energy collected during the day, a solar chimney (or upwind) power station for the generation of electric energy is operated during the night, whereby the electric energy finds application for the cooling of a coolant, which by means of cooling registers is utilized for the dehumidification of the air. Furthermore, the invention envisions to designate the heat energy during the night also for the generation of air currents and thereby economize the electric energy for the operation of ventilators which blow the air that is supposed to be dehumidified through the cooling registers.
The advantage of this machine/device for the reclamation of atmospheric water is that it can be used in arid countries and regions, as for instance in karstlands (rocky deserts), desert regions and remote settlements, i.e. in regions where there is little or no precipitation which could supply these with water for drinking and domestic use as well as for irrigation.
The same applies to regions whose groundwater table has sunk so low that contaminations threaten or are already present, or which cannot be reached by the pipelines of desalination plants, or whose water supply by tank trucks is too costly.
Beyond this, the machine/device for the reclamation of atmospheric water is designed to provide the service water supply in tourist centers (e.g. for bathrooms, toilets, and swimming pools). Through the use of this machine/device the groundwater resources are disencumbered considerably, as to this day approximately 75% of the valuable groundwater is wasted on irrigation.
A great advantage is that with this machine/device the atmospheric water cycle is closed. After the irrigation, the water extracted from the atmosphere evaporates again into the atmosphere, is extracted again, evaporates again, and so on.
A further advantage of this machine/device for the reclamation of atmospheric water is that with renewable energies, combined cooling and heating systems are run which make the 24-hour night and day operation of the machine/device possible. The coolants are cooled during the night with cooling collectors, are stored aboveground or belowground out of the way in multi-chamber thermo-reservoirs and during the daytime-operation are fed to the cooling registers.
In the same way, explosion-proof boiling oils or other heat-accumulating fluids are heated during the day with solar collectors, are stored aboveground or belowground out of the way in multi-chamber thermo-reservoirs and during the nighttime-operation are fed to the heating registers. Through the use of renewable energies, the entire process of water reclamation requires no conventional energies. The power demand for the continuously variable high-performance blowers, circulating and dosing pumps, the electronic control as well as the regulation and measuring instruments etc. is supplied by photo-voltaic equipment. A battery station, which is fed by the photo-voltaic equipment, supplies the energy for the nighttime operation. Thereby the machine/device is completely network-independent and can be installed at any place at all, in the desert, mountains etc. As far as the size/dimension and output are concerned, the machine/device can be adapted individually to any water demand.
Further advantages and details of the invention become evident in the drawings and are more closely explained in the construction examples (embodiments) that are illustrated subsequently.